BFI Development Funding
BFI (British Film Institute), National Lottery
The main public route for developing a British fiction feature, from treatment through to a screenplay ready to finance.
VariesGrant or repayableany time
Broadcaster United Kingdom, London
Emerging Indie Fund
Run by Channel 4
Rather than fund one script, Channel 4 picks up to five regional companies a year (plus two digital ones) and pays for their development slates while a commissioner meets them regularly. A writer reaches it through an indie that is already pitching to the channel. Applications in 2025 asked for one idea per chosen genre.
Grant, amount not statedOpen to writers in United KingdomA production company
Next dates not yet published
That closing date has passed. We check the funder's page every day and add the next dates once they are published.
The money
- Amount
- Amount not statedSlate development funding; no figure on the page
- What it is
- Grant
- To apply
- Free
Who can apply
- Applicant
- A production company
- Where you write
- In United Kingdom
- Rules
- Production companies with their main office and most of their decision-makers in the UK nations and regions outside London, turnover under GBP 6 million, no broadcaster owning more than a quarter, and a slate already in discussion with a Channel 4 commissioner.
- Stages
- Development
- Formats
- Series, Documentary
- Language of the application
- English
Its site names no past recipients or funded projects. It is listed because applying is free.
When to apply
The fund opens once a year. The next cycle's dates are not yet published; we add them when they are. the 2025 round closed on October 13, 2025 and ran through June 2026; a new round is not yet announced
| Round | Closes |
|---|---|
| 2025 round | Oct 13, 2025 passed |
Dates are as the funder states them. Check the time of day and the time zone on the official page.
What it gives besides money
Regular meetings with a commissioning editor and the head of indie relations, business development consultancy, workshops and the 4Producers network.
Also open to writers in United Kingdom
BFI Doc Society Fund: features development and production
Doc Society for the BFI (British Film Institute), National Lottery
The UK's National Lottery money for feature documentaries, run by Doc Society.
range£150kGrantcloses in 50 days
BFI Filmmaking Fund: Discovery and Impact feature funding
BFI (British Film Institute), National Lottery
Production money for British features in two strands split by budget and by the director's experience.
up to£1.3MGrant or repayablecloses in 45 days
Made of Truth (BFI Doc Society short film fund)
Doc Society for BFI NETWORK (British Film Institute), National Lottery
A yearly grant for short documentaries by UK filmmakers at the start of their careers, in live action or animation.
up to£25kGrantbetween rounds
More development funding elsewhere
Grants for Artist Projects (GAP)
Artist Trust
Small, fast and plentiful: 65 Washington artists a year receive USD 2,500 toward a specific project, from research travel to a first draft.
range$2.5kGrantbetween rounds
Incubator Fund
ITVS, Independent Television Service
ITVS's development door, replacing its earlier diversity development fund: a small first payment to shape a nonfiction feature or web series for PBS streaming, with a few months of…
up to$10kGrantpaused
Public Media Content Fund
Latino Public Broadcasting
Documentaries and limited series about Latino life for national public television, funded from first research through the final mix.
range$100kInvestmentbetween rounds
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grants at Film Independent
Film Independent, with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Science on screen pays here: three cash grants a year for fiction projects about scientists or technology, awarded inside Film Independent's Episodic Lab, Producing Lab and Fast Track…
range$30kGrantbetween rounds
Also useful
Where Creative Europe's development money goesEvery MEDIA development grant since 2014, by country, company and year.Fellowships and labsPrograms that pick a few writers and work with them for months, on the events pages.How to write a treatmentThe document a development application is built on, step by step.Screenwriting eventsContests, labs, festivals and conferences, with their deadlines.